Covenant (22 page)

Twenty-five

Only the strongest souls escape becoming my marionettes.
—P
YTHON

Nina wasn't sure if it was her tiredness or her hunger causing her to hallucinate. She felt like a zombie staring at her reflection, trying to wish away her weakness and pain. Angela needed her, and Nina was stuck so far away. It actually hurt her inside, and the questions within her echoed that pain. Why had she been brought back from death? Who brought her back? Worse still, how could she prove she still had a reason to live?

Perhaps it was those thoughts that summoned Stephanie Walsh's image in one of the obsidian mirrors.

Stephanie was uncomfortably different from the person Nina feared so much before she'd died. Her red hair was much shorter and more ragged. Stephanie also looked older, as if she'd aged ten years in the span of one, with a weariness look pulling down all her features. She wore a white jumpsuit instead of the Pentacle Sorority uniform, and her characteristic smug smile had vanished. But her green eyes burned with a fiercer fire than ever.

“Hello, Nina,” Stephanie's reflection whispered. “I must admit, you're the last person who deserves Hell. Was it me who put you here?”

Nina stared. That was one thing she couldn't remember. This was all so dreamlike and surreal.

A warm breeze brushed at her hair.

“I am sorry about that,” Stephanie said. “If it was my fault.” Stephanie managed to smile. “I know. I look different, right? My bloodshot eyes. My ridiculous hair. I guess I do deserve that. I made fun of you for all those years. You said you saw dead people in your dreams and no one cared or believed you. The people who did believe you tortured you for it. Now, I see people in my dreams. And I hear voices in my head.”

Stephanie shivered.

“And
her
voice is the worst one of all . . .”

Nina shivered with her.

“One of those voices called me here, Nina. I didn't want to go through the door. I cried and begged not to. But this demon told me that if I did, I had a second chance. Angela is down here, isn't she?” Stephanie's voice hardened. “There's still a lot I need to say to her. Where is she, Nina? Do you know?”

Nina shook her head. Her heart raced and her limbs chilled. For some indefinable reason, she felt rooted to the spot.

Stephanie appeared to step closer. Instantly, her reflection multiplied with her shift in position, gleaming from countless other obsidian mirrors. She smiled again and flexed her hands.

“Nina, I know we haven't gotten along in the past. But I want you to think hard about something. What has Angela really done for you? What kind of positive influence has she been in your life?”

“She's my friend,” Nina whispered.

Stephanie shook her head. “That's not an answer.” She sighed. “Nina, I could help you. You deserve that, I think. I came here through a door too. I can lead you back to that same door. I can get you out of this place and back to Luz where you can live a normal, humdrum, happy life . . .”

“I can't go right now,” Nina said. Her mind flashed to Troy, Juno, and Fury.

“Are you talking about that bloodthirsty Jinn? You can't leave a monster like
her
behind? Don't you think she'd do the same in a heartbeat if she had the chance?”

Nina thought of Troy harder and suddenly found herself unable to answer. She thought of how and why Troy might be staying by her side, and the more she questioned it, the more the kindness behind the reasons grew doubtful.

She swallowed nervously.

“Come on,” Stephanie whispered. She walked closer, her reflections shuddering across the mirrors, twisting their positions. “I can see you want to get out of this Hell. Once we find Angela, we can leave together, you and me. Think of it as an apology for my part in getting you into this mess . . .”

Nina's mouth dried like a desert. Her heart hammered beneath her chest. “Can't I have a moment to think—”

“I don't have time,” Stephanie snapped, some of her old nastiness returning. “It's not that difficult a choice, Nina. Angela doesn't care about you, or you wouldn't be here. That ratty Jinn who wants Kim dead doesn't care either. Do you really think an angel, demon, or anything like them can feel real compassion for a human being? I know better than anyone that they think differently than us.”

A flash of anguish crossed Stephanie's face. She came closer, her many reflections looming larger.

Now Nina saw she held something shiny in her hands.

Nina's mind turned in every direction. She didn't want to believe what Stephanie was saying. But the more Nina considered, the more it seemed impossible for Troy to really care if she lived or died. To Troy, Juno, and Fury, Nina was a burden, an inconvenience. Nothing more. And Angela—what
had
her presence in Nina's life done? Nina had died once and she was about to die again. Angela was nowhere to be found right now.

Stephanie stretched out her hand, smiling.

Nina reached out for it, her mind still in a fog.

Then with a sudden flash sparked from the depths of her soul, she relived, in mere moments, countless happy, peaceful, and sad but meaningful memories. They ended with Angela's stricken face and her sorrowful voice, asking Nina a question that must have been tormenting.
There's more to me than being the Archon, isn't there?

Once again, Nina felt Angela's warm hands holding hers; she heard Angela promising in her firm way to answer all Nina's questions if they exited Hell alive. Then Angela's hug held them together, and her hot tears hit Nina's shoulder. Those tears in Nina's memories felt almost as warm as in reality. It was true that Angela had been awkward with expressing her emotions in the past, almost cold. But Nina had learned that was just Angela's way of keeping her feelings safe. She distanced herself from others to protect her heart.

Now, Angela's soul was changing, and Nina's had changed with it.

She withdrew her hand from Stephanie's. “I can't go with you.”

Stephanie blinked at her.

“Stephanie,” Nina said, “what you said is somewhat true. Maybe Troy doesn't care about me at all. Maybe Angela wasn't really my friend at the beginning. But she is now. And Troy could have left me for dead at any time while she and I were here. She chose not to. Besides, if I return to Earth, what kind of life can I live when most people remember me dead? I'd be nothing but a freak, just like I used to be. So my answer is no. I can't go back. I won't leave. I made a promise too—even if I didn't say it aloud.”

Stephanie's sorrowful look returned. “You're a step ahead of me, Nina. No matter how many friends surround me, they're typically friends in name only. I guess you're making the right choice.” She shook her head. “But that doesn't mean it's the smart one. Oh, well . . . I tried.”

A lethal light appeared behind Stephanie's green eyes again, but this time Nina caught the briefest flash of reptilian pupils.

Nina should have known something about this was too perfect. Stephanie wasn't completely herself. Someone else was manipulating her thoughts, maybe even controlling her.

Nina shuffled backward.

Stephanie took another step closer, and her reflections disappeared. Now she stood in the flesh directly to Nina's right, staring at her while she clasped a long, sharp piece of obsidian in her hands. Stephanie's face blanked over oddly, and a pathetic fear replaced the hardness in her eyes. “That demon said if I killed you, he'd lead me right to Angela,” she whispered fearfully. “I told him no, Nina. But then the demon told me—I didn't really have a choice.
Run while you can. Run—
”

Stephanie's voice cut off. Her face reverted back to a cold mask, and now the words that came out of her mouth were clearly someone else's.

“What a timely interruption,” the voice hissed through Stephanie's lips. “Isn't it just my luck that the insane tend to be strong-willed. Well, why fight it? If you want to watch yourself kill Nina Willis, Stephanie my dear, be my guest.”

Stephanie's face sapped to the whiteness of pure fear. “
No. No,
” she begged, but an invisible force jerked her arms up so that she raised the knife high.

Nina dodged just in time.

The obsidian whistled through the air.

Nina pitched hard against the ground, shrieking in pain as her injured leg touched the stone. She rolled, dodging again. Obsidian clanged against the stone floor. There was a harsh cracking sound, and it broke into four smaller fragments. Stephanie jerkily knelt down to pick one of them up. She was desperately trying to fight whatever control her captor still had over her, but it wasn't working.

Another fragment skittered close to Nina. She grabbed it, hot with fear.

Nina wobbled to her feet as soon as possible, took her chance, and ran.

Her running was more like hobbling. Every step felt maddeningly slow. She escaped into part of the mirror maze, turning corners like mad, trying to hide. But though Stephanie was slower to follow her, the laughter resounding in the air was not. Nina turned another corner, her heart pounding frightfully, her breath catching in her throat.

She met with her reflection on three sides and a large pool of acidic water steaming beneath the dim light. A dead end.

She turned and found Stephanie marching toward her resolutely. The jerkiness in Stephanie's movements was gone again. Whatever control the demon had on her mind, he'd gotten it back completely for now.

Nina threw herself against the nearest obsidian mirror, hoping it would smash. It didn't even shudder.

She pressed her back against the mirror again, clutching the makeshift dagger Stephanie had unwittingly given her. Nina didn't want to use it—but what choice did she have? She held it out, her hand shaking. She feared moving too much because of the acidic water. Nina doubted she could go through that kind of pain again and stay sane.

Stephanie must have sensed her hesitation. “You always were weak,” she sniffed at Nina, advancing without a shade of fear, sidestepping the pool. “
That
was why I couldn't let you into my sorority, Nina. Well, this should at least be easy for both of us. I wonder what Angela will say when she knows you're dead again?”

Stephanie raced for Nina with deadly aim. More terrible laughter filled the air, echoing from everywhere.

A black blur streaked from nowhere and pounced on Stephanie hard. It knocked directly into her, flinging her to the floor.

There was a harsh
thud
. Stephanie groaned. Her body rolled to a stop perilously close to the acid pool. Half the clothes on her back had been ripped away, revealing bleeding gashes. Yet she sprang up onto her hands and knees with frightening quickness, in an echo of her best days as Westwood Academy's most feared witch.

“It's
you,
” she hissed. “
You nasty bitch
.”

Troy licked the blood from her nails and advanced snarling in such a terrifying display, Nina could barely look at her.

Abruptly, the Jinn paused and stared at Stephanie with surprise.

Juno scampered around her aunt and stopped at Nina's side, growling. Fury landed on Nina's shoulder, opened her wings, and screeched bravely.

“I'm ready for you this time,” Stephanie said, though her face showed real fear again. Face-to-face with Troy, whatever good was left in Stephanie now resurfaced, fighting frantically for control. But it was obvious the evil overshadowing her mind was too powerful and already winning out.

Stephanie lifted her hand and pointed at Troy, shouting ominously.

“Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde—”

An immense but invisible weight fell on Troy, crushing her. The Jinn's wings trembled. Staggering, she pushed herself up from the ground, shrieking from the pain. Juno screeched in pain near her spot at Nina's side.

Stephanie dared to come closer. “—
in nomine Dei
—”

On and on, Stephanie continued. Nina barely listened to the words themselves, because she also screamed over and over. “
Stop it! You're killing them!
” Her voice grew hoarse. She rocked to her feet one more time.

Troy groaned, forcing herself back to her feet but she could have been fighting against gravity itself. It looked like her stomach had been yanked out with a hook. She struggled anyway, staring at Nina with wide and truly agonized eyes. Juno moaned in her own pitiful corner, her little wings flapping in spasms.

Nina had to do something. Troy and Juno were risking their lives for her, and no one had forced them to do so.

Troy screamed. “
The demon is controlling her with strings. Cut the strings!
”

Strings?

Nina remembered how Stephanie's arms had jerked above her head. She remembered the odd look on Troy's face when the Jinn confronted Stephanie. Whatever invisible strings happened to be there, Troy could see them.

Nina narrowed her eyes and concentrated.

Just barely, she could discern a patch of distorted air above Stephanie's head.

The agony was almost unbearable for her bad leg, but Nina steadied herself and ran for Stephanie anyway. She held out the dagger, and Fury flapped away in sudden alarm. Tears blurred Nina's vision, and the motion of the world slowed.

Stephanie turned, utter shock paling her face.

Nina swiped wildly above Stephanie's head and shoulders, and amid a flash of brilliant red light, they collided.

Twenty-six

Now, I sensed the real beginning of my forever.
—N
INA
W
ILLIS

The pain was instant and all-encompassing.

Nina couldn't remember what death had been like. Yet she knew it couldn't have been worse than this. More light flashed. A sound resembling the snap of steel cables filled the air. Nina tumbled with Stephanie to the ground, and something sharp slid between her ribs as her own dagger dropped from her hand. A searingly cold sensation went through her.

Nina screamed and flung Stephanie off her body as the floor rose up, hitting her mercilessly. Warmth poured out of her.

Nina's cheek smacked the stone. The pain dissolved almost instantly, and a deep numbness spread through her limbs. Yards away, Stephanie stumbled and collapsed so close to the acidic water that one of her hands dangled over the edge, twitching.

Stephanie lay still, but her eyes remained open and she gasped in shock and pain. A deep red stain blossomed on her white clothing. Nina's knife had accidentally stabbed her—but at least the terrible battle was over.

A penetrating silence came over everything.

Nina wanted to move, at least to see if Troy and Juno were all right, but her body refused to obey her brain. She breathed and prayed for what felt like forever. Then a shadow fell across her, and Troy knelt down with a frightened Juno by her side. Both Jinn stared at Nina. Juno was oddly quiet, her bright eyes glazed over. Fury sat on her shoulder, croaking sadly.

“How bad is it?” Nina whispered hoarsely. “The wound . . . doesn't hurt anymore . . .”

Troy shook her head, as if to say that was the worst thing possible. The bones still tied in her hair rattled gently.

“What about Stephanie?” Nina said.

Troy's eyes widened in surprise. Nina's concern seemed to be beyond the Jinn's comprehension. “She was a puppet on strings,” Troy said grimly. “It is a dirty demonic trick, but a common one. It's even easier if a demon's tool happens to have a weak mind.”

Nina tried to take comfort in the idea that Stephanie had fought one last time for control. Nina never could believe that people were completely evil. Even Stephanie had a side that cried.

Tears filled Nina's eyes, but she could barely feel them. All she had left was a world slowly beginning to blur away. “I bet you think I'm so stupid . . . You probably hate me. You thought I was a burden all along. I know. And maybe you were right. Look at me now.” She choked back a long sob. “I'm dying again . . . but where will I go this time? I couldn't even figure out why I came back in the first place. There has to be a reason . . . right?”

“There is a reason for all things,” Troy said softly. Her large eyes glowed in the growing darkness.

“Maybe it's because Angela needed me,” Nina whispered. “She needs friends. Without them, I don't know what's going to happen to her. Maybe . . . that's the only thing keeping her from choosing to be the Ruin and reign in Lucifel's place . . . you know. For us . . .”

Juno's long ears flattened. She gazed down at the trickles of blood touching her fingers and toes. But she made no move to lick them.

“Now I'm failing her,” Nina said. She stared at Troy, trying to focus more on those hypnotic eyes that were fading from her fast. “Troy, promise me that you'll be her friend in my place. I know it sounds silly . . . someone like you being friends with a human . . . but Angela is different, she's the Archon and . . .”

More tears swallowed Nina's world.

Troy's face came down to the level of Nina's ear. Her breath felt faintly warm. “No. She is not different from you,” the Jinn hissed gently.

Nina's eyes opened wider for a second. “What? But that's not—”

“Fate chose her,” Troy said. “As it also chose you. You are equals in that sense. I am not ashamed to call you an ally, Nina Willis. You saved me, and you risked your life for the heir to the Throne of the Underworld. Once upon a time, there were many Jinn who would have died for the honor of protecting their Queen. Now honor is gone, and the old order is collapsing. You have put almost all my relatives to shame with your courage.”

Gratefulness swelled in Nina's heart. She felt herself cry more, but the tears, much like everything else, began to feel far away, as if they happened in another place and time.

“I will protect the Archon with my life,” Troy said faintly. “And I will never leave her side . . .”

“Neither will I,” Nina said slowly. “I just won't allow it . . .” This wasn't the end for her. Nina had cheated death before, and she could cheat it now.

But how?

A strange voice touched the edge of her thoughts. It sounded a lot like the one that had come from Stephanie's mouth but more friendly and understanding.

Work for me,
it whispered,
and you can live forever. I'll even let you enjoy a life of privilege and wealth by your brother's side . . .

Somehow, Nina sensed every last bit of that was a lie.
No thank you,
she said in her mind definitively.

The irritated face of a snake flashed within her thoughts and then it mercifully disappeared forever.

A great weight lifted from her. Nina was now alone, peaceful, and she began to slip deeper into a surprising dream. Her tears must have finally stopped—she could see Troy and Juno clearly again.

They were so strangely beautiful despite how fierce and frightening they could look. Troy especially had an almost regal air, her translucent skin looking as white as chalk, but with networks of blue veins so fine and delicate they resembled lace. The angles of her face were perfect. Yet she had the strangest expression, something Nina had never found in her before.

Compassion? Pride? Sorrow? Nina wasn't sure.

Yet there was an enchantment to it. It was not a bad image to take into shadows that finally shut out the world.